Summary and Purpose of Job:
Under the general direction of the Director of Clinical Operations, support the delivery of patient care services and clinical education through the management of optical services in the WesternU Health Eye Care Institute (ECI).
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
The below description is intended to provide a summary of the typical functions of the position and is not intended to be an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible responsibilities, tasks, and duties of the position.
- Provides direct patient care for spectacle frame and lens selection, fitting, ordering, verification, and dispensing
- Verifies accuracy of ophthalmic materials when received from the optical laboratory, assures timely notification of receipt of materials
- Orders and verifies contact lenses for diagnostic use and patient dispensing. Coordinates appointment scheduling for contact lens dispensing
- Assists patients in the selection of ophthalmic materials, performs all necessary measurements and completes all ordering and inputs necessary information into the EHR system
- Assists and triages patients with any concerns with ophthalmic materials. Provides direct patient care for spectacle frame and lens selection, fitting, ordering, verification, and dispensing.
- Provides clinical education in optical services to students enrolled in the College of Optometry
- Implements the business aspects of the optical service including stocking, ordering, inventory, display, direct and third-party billing
- Stays current in ophthalmic optics including spectacle lens design, lens materials, need for “lifestyle dispensing”, and trends in frame design
- Participates in quality assurance programs
- Performs other duties as assigned. The University/College reserves the right to add or change duties at any time.
Minimum Qualifications:
- High School Diploma or Graduate Equivalency Diploma required
- Three to five years’ experience in an optometric clinical practice or institutional setting or any combination of education, training, or experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) required
- Certified optician or paraoptometric technician preferred
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Individuals must possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities or be able to perform the essential functions of the assigned classification, with or without reasonable accommodation(s), using some other combination of skills and abilities. Necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities are as follows:
- Proficient computer skills necessary to create documents, spreadsheets, tables, and/or forms in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Acrobat Professional, EMR/EHR software programs and any other software programs as required by the position with the ability to learn various software programs used within the College of Optometry and the Eye Care Institute.
- Basic knowledge of optical services and optical business practices. Ability to manage business aspects of an optical service and ability to provide direct patient care for optical services.
- Level of familiarity with optical service terminology and optometric patient care terminology.
- Mathematical ability to add, subtract, divide, multiply, calculate percentages.
- Language ability to read professional literature, provide patient education, read insurance and third-party payer information
- Reasoning ability to problem solve quickly
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Ability to interact well with patients, staff, students, faculty, and administration in a highly responsive manner. Must be culturally sensitive and maintain confidentiality.
- Must be a self-assured, experienced leader who is able to interact with senior executives, anticipate potential problems, and initiate solutions. Must be able to manage a crisis with upset customers or calm a faculty member, staff member, or student.
- Must be able to multi-task in a fast-paced environment and be flexible with job assignments.
- Demonstrate a commitment to working in an organization that values and promotes humanism.
Work Environment Demands:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this class. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear, sit, stand, use hands to grasp objects, and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally walk, stoop, and lift and/or move up to 10 lbs. No specific vision abilities are required. No other specific physical demands are required.
- Duties of the Optical Technician are normally performed in a typical office, laboratory, or environmentally controlled interior healthcare setting. The work environment may involve exposure to potentially dangerous materials, e.g., blood and body fluids, communicable diseases, toxic substances, and risk of electric shock. Clinical environments require compliance with safety precautions, OSHA Blood borne pathogen training, and may include the use of certain personal protective equipment.
- The noise level in this setting is usually moderate due to telephone calls, equipment, and normal patient and student traffic.
- Typical work week is Monday – Friday with a rotating schedule that varies based on assignments, as outlined below. Some evenings and weekends are required.
- 7:30am – 4:30pm
- 8:00am – 5:00pm
- 8:30am – 5:30pm
